Ireland tramper here wondering if anyone still uses cb radio and if they are useful good craic etc? Also any advice on a good one to buy? Thanks paul
I avoid the ones with controls on the microphone or swap the mic for a traditional coffin mic .i find the better ones have RF gain .
I used to find that Midland or any thing made by Cobra were top notch, as for if anyone still uses them I cant answer that as I don’t, but the best ever I had was a Superstar 360, same as the President (think that was what it was called but silver fascia instead of black but same guts.)
raymundo:
the best ever I had was a Superstar 360, same as the President (think that was what it was called but silver fascia instead of black but same guts.)
President make a huge range of radio transceivers, including CBs.
Their big, all singing all dancing, multi mode CB is the President Grant, I think.
It has FM, AM, USB, LSB (Upper and Lower Side Band), with 40 channels on each. It’ll cost quite a few bob though.
I’ve got a couple of much older ones. The one I use all the time is a Maycom EM27. An FM only but with UK and Euro (CEPT) frequencies built in, 40 channels each.
It’s nothing special, but it does the job perfectly well. That’s the sort of thing you’ll want Paul. Probably around the £30 - 40 mark.
Get a second hand one from one of the small CB shops/workshops. There’s one at the Golden Fleece M6 J42. There used to be one at Forton Services, there used to be one behind Washington Services in a house with a large Pama sign on the wall. I don’t know if those 2 are still going. There’s one on Lyme truckstop as well, I don’t know about any others, I’ve been working around Europe for too long
The other one I’ve got is BIG. It’s got around 160 FM channels, which include the UK and EU channels, and it’s tunable between the preset channel frequencies. Similar to your Superstar 360/Cobra raymundo, but the low/mid/high band knob on mine has A/B,C/D,E/F, on it and another switch to go between the pairs.
It also has AM with USB and LSB as well, BUT there is no frequency display, only channel numbers. So you only know it’s tuned in accurately once you find someone to talk to and tweak the tuning till its right.
I wouldn’t recommend one of those. I think it’s a Cobra, but there’s no makers name on it so probably not. This thing was expensive even second hand. Fantastic range and clarity once you get it tuned in, so to me it’s worth all the grief, but it’s also a right PITA.
CB used to be great, lots of drivers had them. You could, if you wanted, be chatting to folk all the way through the UK. Drivers passed on info about hold-ups etc, so you could divert if you wanted. You could get directions to a drop, either off another driver or off a local home base breaker. It was a big club, not all rosy, there were plenty of ‘clowns’ in the club as well.
These days a CB aerial seems to be one of the ‘must have’ fashion accessories on a truck, like curtains across the door windows, millions of spot lights, Spanish mini bull fighter spears etc. But either the CB is switched off all the time or there isn’t even one fitted. It’ll get switched on to enquire what the hold-up is, after joining the back of the Q once it’s to late to do anything.
They are great if you’re running with a mate. The tipper and the box jockey lads n lasses use them, they tend to stick with a job or company channel. There are still quite a few home basers, but they only clog up channel 19 and try to give truckers abuse or lock the ptt switch and play crap music. Sat Navs have done away with wanting directions. Mobile phones with unlimited free minutes give you instant communications with anyone you know. It’s hardly surprising that CBs no longer have such wide appeal.
There are still plenty of CB breakers around, I’m one of them, but it’s a much smaller and quieter club than it used to be
Simon:
raymundo:
the best ever I had was a Superstar 360, same as the President (think that was what it was called but silver fascia instead of black but same guts.)President make a huge range of radio transceivers, including CBs.
Their big, all singing all dancing, multi mode CB is the President Grant, I think.
It has FM, AM, USB, LSB (Upper and Lower Side Band), with 40 channels on each. It’ll cost quite a few bob though.
I’ve got a couple of much older ones. The one I use all the time is a Maycom EM27. An FM only but with UK and Euro (CEPT) frequencies built in, 40 channels each.
It’s nothing special, but it does the job perfectly well. That’s the sort of thing you’ll want Paul. Probably around the £30 - 40 mark.
Get a second hand one from one of the small CB shops/workshops. There’s one at the Golden Fleece M6 J42. There used to be one at Forton Services, there used to be one behind Washington Services in a house with a large Pama sign on the wall. I don’t know if those 2 are still going. There’s one on Lyme truckstop as well, I don’t know about any others, I’ve been working around Europe for too longThe other one I’ve got is BIG. It’s got around 160 FM channels, which include the UK and EU channels, and it’s tunable between the preset channel frequencies. Similar to your Superstar 360/Cobra raymundo, but the low/mid/high band knob on mine has A/B,C/D,E/F, on it and another switch to go between the pairs.
It also has AM with USB and LSB as well, BUT there is no frequency display, only channel numbers. So you only know it’s tuned in accurately once you find someone to talk to and tweak the tuning till its right.
I wouldn’t recommend one of those. I think it’s a Cobra, but there’s no makers name on it so probably not. This thing was expensive even second hand. Fantastic range and clarity once you get it tuned in, so to me it’s worth all the grief, but it’s also a right PITA.CB used to be great, lots of drivers had them. You could, if you wanted, be chatting to folk all the way through the UK. Drivers passed on info about hold-ups etc, so you could divert if you wanted. You could get directions to a drop, either off another driver or off a local home base breaker. It was a big club, not all rosy, there were plenty of ‘clowns’ in the club as well.
These days a CB aerial seems to be one of the ‘must have’ fashion accessories on a truck, like curtains across the door windows, millions of spot lights, Spanish mini bull fighter spears etc. But either the CB is switched off all the time or there isn’t even one fitted. It’ll get switched on to enquire what the hold-up is, after joining the back of the Q once it’s to late to do anything.
They are great if you’re running with a mate. The tipper and the box jockey lads n lasses use them, they tend to stick with a job or company channel. There are still quite a few home basers, but they only clog up channel 19 and try to give truckers abuse or lock the ptt switch and play crap music. Sat Navs have done away with wanting directions. Mobile phones with unlimited free minutes give you instant communications with anyone you know. It’s hardly surprising that CBs no longer have such wide appeal.There are still plenty of CB breakers around, I’m one of them, but it’s a much smaller and quieter club than it used to be
Brilliant reply thank you ,
Hi all, Without doubt the Superstar 360 Or the Cobra 148… That is once you learn how to tune them in correctly…World wide coverage with amplifiers.[illeagle] Tony
I bought the Superstar for my kids Xmas pressie new in '81 with antenna about 20 foot long with an ice cream cone shaped thing as the ground plane but cant recall the name. Cost then about £400 plus another ton for someone to fit it on Xmas eve. The little 'orrers then decided it weren’t good enough as you could only get 27 channels of the 40 legal ones so took that one on to the ship I had at the time and bought them a Midland for about £70 and a dipole, they were well happy. I got hold of a 1kw linear burner (to beat the Italians at their own game) but if I used it on full power near a residential area the signal would destroy their TV reception. It also used to interfere with the ship electronicky stuff and would send the automatic pilot hard to starboard if at sea. Also had a am rig in my car but a customs man in Gt Yarmouth saw that and asked if he could have it, I said no but he still took it 
It were great DXing all around the world if the skip was good but 81 was the height of the sunspot activity which comes round every 11 years so was OK.
The antenna was like this one…
And just remembered the name of it, Sigma 4 !!
Seen many Tipper Drivers in Central London using CBs - with seen I mean - seen driver sitting next to me at traffic lights and using it - talking through it etc… so someone still use them just for some reason they don’t admit it on forum 
paulr92:
Ireland tramper here wondering if anyone still uses cb radio and if they are useful good craic etc? Also any advice on a good one to buy? Thanks paul
A.M 40 channel,on 19 or you will be talking to mr nobody anywhere in Ireland or n.i. other than that you will only need it if your lucky enough to get uk work on the 75 or 55/40 .other than those roads in uk,then you might as well keep it off till you see a paddy plate to shout at. 
kyk:
Seen many Tipper Drivers in Central London using CBs - with seen I mean - seen driver sitting next to me at traffic lights and using it - talking through it etc… so someone still use them just for some reason they don’t admit it on forum
I’ve got one that my boss supplied, a Thunderpole. Not great occasionally resets to some foreign channel and I have to go back through to get it to UK. Aerial is a short stinger with crap range (about 1 or 2 miles, some people I can’t hear once they’ve passed me).
I never use 19, normally on 36 but occasionally 5 but not a lot as it’s the Carrot Crunchers of Ogbourne St George channel. 
Our 8wheeler has the standard Daf aerial folded down on the cab rear, I could use that but they’re a bit crap too.
I found the K40 was the best mobile aerial to use.
Midland or cobra.
Muckaway:
kyk:
Seen many Tipper Drivers in Central London using CBs - with seen I mean - seen driver sitting next to me at traffic lights and using it - talking through it etc… so someone still use them just for some reason they don’t admit it on forumI’ve got one that my boss supplied, a Thunderpole. Not great occasionally resets to some foreign channel and I have to go back through to get it to UK. Aerial is a short stinger with crap range (about 1 or 2 miles, some people I can’t hear once they’ve passed me).
I never use 19, normally on 36 but occasionally 5 but not a lot as it’s the Carrot Crunchers of Ogbourne St George channel.
Our 8wheeler has the standard Daf aerial folded down on the cab rear, I could use that but they’re a bit crap too.
At least you don’t have to listen to Jamie banging on anymore.
Or do you?
used to have a midland and was pretty decent for the money.
I don’t know if they still do but and it has been a few years since I used one but didn’t the irish lads run on AM rather than FM?
I’ve had CB’s for over 35 years. Still got a couple of Uniden 200 and a Superstar 3900. Have had all sorts over the years, Ham International, Nato 2000 and others.
Steve66:
Muckaway:
At least you don’t have to listen to Jamie banging on anymore.
Or do you?
He was still there last week mate, heard him didn’t see him.